During the beginning of COVID-19, the CDC warned of the different ways community spread could become unchecked. One of the solutions they proposed was an Eviction Moratorium. This was to prevent renters who had lost income due to COVID-19 from losing their housing. Their reasoning was to keep vulnerable community members housed to reduce possible infection. We’ve seen our government take action, reluctantly, and provide increased unemployment insurance, small business loans, and other ways to keep this country’s people afloat during this rough period. 

The pandemic has not abated, but our government has ended free COVID-19 testing, pandemic-related unemployment insurance, and the eviction moratorium was struck down by the Supreme Court in August of 2021. In Rhode Island, the state’s Rent Relief program will discontinue accepting applications at the start of June 2022. 

A February 2022 article from Forbes shared that roughly 7 out of every 10 Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck. Many of us are one minor medical crisis, missed bill payment, or missed paycheck away from housing instability than we are prepared to admit. I can easily speak for myself when I say that if I were to lose my job tomorrow, I wouldn’t be able to maintain the rent on my apartment, afford my healthcare costs, food, or my bills unless I were able to find an equal-paying job the very next day. I’m one of many in this country without a college degree. Not having that level of education shouldn’t relegate me to a life of instability. 

I’m not the only one with these fears and concerns. My work involves assisting renters in need with filling out applications for Rhode Island Rent Relief. Almost daily, I am present at the 6th District Courthouse in Providence, and I get the privilege of being able to listen to renters who apply. Their stories are becoming more than familiar at this point – the moratorium has lifted, renters aren’t earning enough to catch up, and many still can’t find well-enough paying jobs. They are afraid for themselves and their loved ones. One woman described to me how her landlord, upon hearing that Rent Relief doesn’t have a cap on how much monthly rent can be paid, immediately raised her rent by $400.00. “How will I be able to afford this, when Rent Relief money runs out?”, she asked me. I didn’t have an answer for her. 

Princeton’s Eviction Lab has been tracking eviction data across six states and 31 cities since the start of the pandemic. They note that evictions have slowed down to roughly 50% of the national average for 2019. They attribute this to emergency funds released by the federal government for rental assistance and pandemic-related unemployment insurance. Neighborhoods that saw the largest reduction in evictions were low-income, majority non-Black POC and Black neighborhoods. These neighborhoods historically experience the highest rates of displacement and gentrification, with increasing property values and rental rates continuing to soar. When these renters are evicted, it will be real-estate agencies, Air B’n’B’s, and renter-aggregate companies such as Zillow and Trulia who will purchase these properties, setting unrealistic and unaffordable rental prices on these units – effectively pricing out anyone who could formerly afford to live in these neighborhoods. 

And is it any wonder? According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a “full-time worker needs to earn an hourly wage of $24.90 on average to afford a modest, two-bedroom rental home in the U.S.,” while the federal minimum wage remains at $7.25 per hour. The NLIHC has also reported that the average worker must work anywhere between 80 to 90 hours per week just to afford a one- or two-bedroom rental at the average fair market rental price. This means that, for any worker earning federal or state minimum wage, there is no area of the country where they can afford a two-bedroom rental on their own income, and just 218 counties out of all 50 states provide one bedroom rentals at fair market rental price. 

We’re approaching a cliff that grows steeper and steeper by the day, with no viable solutions from our elected officials to address this. The only thing I seem to be hearing is “tough luck – get back to work.” How is that an acceptable solution? What of our chronically unhoused neighbors? Do they not also deserve the right to safe, dignified housing? No human should go without their needs being met, for any reason, period. The NLICH has key proposals to address the roots of our housing crisis, and I think we could go even further than what they suggest. 

In Rhode Island, I propose that we establish a budget for low- and mixed-income public housing, and that we require landlords with code violations to be placed on a publicly-accessible register. I propose that all landlords should be required to provide tenants with copies of the Rhode Island Tenant’s Rights Handbook, and contact information for Code Enforcement offices across the state, Rhode Island Legal Services, and Center for Justice. I also propose raising the state minimum wage to $25.00 per hour. Finally, we must end the needless barriers that prevent so many from accessing dignified, safe housing – namely credit checks, background checks, references from previous landlords, and income requirements. Means-testing anyone out of housing is cruel and unnecessary. 

In a country as wealthy as the United States, with virtually unlimited access to resources, there is no reason for anyone to go hungry or without shelter. Everyone deserves to live a self determined life with dignity, safety, and joy. We have seen perhaps a fraction of what our government can do to actually protect and care for its people. We can come together to bring this support back, and fight to ensure that our tax dollars go towards housing, infrastructure, and healthcare, rather than tax breaks for the rich, the military industrial complex, or corporations. We can do better than this – we can collectively agitate for these changes.

Molly Scavuzzo-Duggan works for Crossroads of Rhode Island, where they assist renters in need with applying for the state’s Rent Relief program. They also work as a shelter advocate, getting to know the members of the community that they serve.